Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Akita Prefecture--A capsule toy vending machine set up by Akita Nairiku Jukan Tetsudo Railway Co based here offers items highly coveted by train buffs: old railway parts a heating lamp and a pin used to adjust the height of a pneumatic spring A set of heavy paper train tickets that had been used until the introduction of automatic gates is also included Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the opening of the Akita Nairiku Line the dispenser is set up at Kakunodate Station and costs 500 yen ($3.40) a spin “We hear that switches used in the driver’s cabin are highly popular among railway item collectors,” a company representative said The operator intends to add new items for the dispenser which will remain until the end of March 2025 Curtain closing on contemporary art-themed bullet train in Niigata Sightseeing train remodeled like a traditional hunter’s cabin Japan's ‘ekiben’ boxed meal culture coming to Paris Checks planned for train riders’ luggage to stop attacks at Games Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages Copyright © The Asahi Shimbun Company. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission. This town has an innovative solutionIn response to an unprecedented surge in bear attacks Japan is looking for ways for humans and animals to co-exist.Japan has seen an unprecedented surge in bear attacks with the highest number reported in over a century 212 people were attacked by Japanese black or brown bears How Jaya bought the ‘Australian dream’ for $30,000 in Japan Japan is one of the world's oldest societies It's 'on the cusp' of being unable to function I went hunting with New York's anti-rat vigilantes taking the city's rodent problem into their own hands ShareGet SBS News daily and direct to your InboxSign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.Your email address *Morning (Mon–Fri) AKITA — A festival offering gourmet food and traditional performing arts from all over Akita Prefecture was held on May 25-26 in Akita City please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent Food and entertainment festival 2024,” the seventh occurrence of the festival including Area Nakaichi in the city’s Nakadori district and a plaza in front of JR Akita Station About 20 vendors lined up at Area Nakaichi to sell local specialties like negiyaki — okonomiyaki-like pancakes with shirakami-negi a famous variety of leek grown in Akita — and Inaniwa udon noodles on May 25 Norihisa Satake encouraged people at the opening ceremony The two-day festival featured 20 performing arts from 18 municipalities such as the Akita Kanto Festival from Akita City the Nishimonai Bon Odori from Ugo Town and the Tsuzureko Big Drums from Kita-Akita City “It was fun watching the shishi lion opening and closing its mouth,” said a second grader at Nakadori Elementary School Akita University and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp.’s Akita Branch set up a booth to showcase their sightseeing guide program powered by artificial intelligence The AI provided conversational guidance on a screen saying such things as “A drum performance seems to have just started on the stage,” or “Let’s try meat-wrapped kiritanpo (pounded rice) next,” along with the photos of the venues Akita University Graduate School of Engineering Science Prof said the guide is also available for use via smartphones based on the user’s location and research is underway for practical use “We hope this will be useful for learning about history and other topics in an easy-to-understand conversational style while making use of existing touristic resources,” Arikawa said Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Focus on Japan one of the Jomon archaeological sites in Hokkaido and the northern Tohoku region the Jomon archaeological sites in northern Japan which provide evidence of the lifestyle and spiritual culture of the Jomon period (10,000-300 B.C.) are on the path to be registered as a World Heritage cultural site It has been more than 13 years since the prefectures of Hokkaido Iwate and Akita proposed to Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency that the ruins in their areas be nominated for World Heritage status The ruins were discovered during excavations that began in 1992 for the construction of a baseball stadium “I was excited by the excavation’s findings which showed the life of the ancient people and their advanced technology,” said Takumi Itchoda a volunteer guide for Aomori’s Sannai-Maruyama archaeological site the efforts stalled when Japan’s central government declined to nominate the sites It argued that since Jomon remains exist across the nation there wasn’t a good reason to nominate only the locations in Hokkaido and northern Tohoku an expert in registering World Heritage cultural sites for Aomori was among a group who rewrote the recommendation more than 100 times where a hunting and gathering culture continued for more than 10,000 years Vox Populi Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun I recently visited Akita Prefecture and toured several sites where bears had been spotted many areas were far more urban than I’d imagined—it’s no longer the case that bears only prowl in areas close to mountains a city of about 28,000 people in northern Akita Prefecture I walked through the shopping arcade and onto the bus street he learned that a woman had been attacked by a bear “A bear?” He recalled being unable to absorb what had been said at first It seems that the beast had been hiding in Minatoya’s garage unnoticed Claw marks remain on his face and back to this day there were 70 victims of bear attacks reported in Akita Prefecture It was said that a lack of food in the mountains drove bears into urban residential areas but even after their favorite wild vegetables and new shoots appeared in the spring There have been more than 400 bear reports across the prefecture and bear alerts have been issued "I changed the road I take a walk on in the morning," one local resident said “When I get out of my car after coming home I worry about a bear emerging from the darkness,” another told me The residents echoed the anxieties rippling through the community I wonder if it might be an exaggeration to say that locals always feel uneasy walking alone outdoors with the threat of bears lurking in their minds Even I found myself stopping every time the bushes beside the road rustled I thought I was unlikely to encounter a bear Are there not some ingenious ideas to prevent these unfortunate encounters from spreading further Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture No reproduction or republication without written permission located on the slopes of Mount Moriyoshi in the city of Kita-Akita the fir trees on the 1,454-meter peak are blasted by steady winds and plenty of snowfall giving them thick coats of hoar and forming fantastic shapes called juhyō “iced trees,” in Japanese—or more simply “monsters.” Take the gondola to the top and walk about five minutes to access expansive groves of these wintry beasts standing up to 5 meters tall The courses that snake through these monsters let skiers and hikers experience their magnificence up close The champagne powder Akita enjoys in the winter months is an added bonus for those looking to ski or snowboard back down Mount Moriyoshi stands alongside Yamagata Prefecture’s Zaō and Aomori Prefecture’s Hakkōda as one of the country’s three top areas for enjoying the juhyō Visitors can see them on the special hiking courses through March 5 this year; snowshoes can be borrowed for free for your wintry walk Students get off a school bus at Taihei Elementary School in the city of Akita on Nov TOKYO -- Reports of bear sightings continue around Japan in late November in the northern prefecture of the same name Children walk to school carrying bells designed to scare off the animals while many residents keep bear repellent with them at all times And there are fears that the animals will remain active foraging for food instead of hibernating in winter there are so many places in Japan that don't suffer from the overtourism that's challenging more popular areas Japan is a deservedly popular destination but travelers often wind up seeing the same sights and miss out on the far-flung to share something about the places they love best according to Japan expert and travel writer Mayu Higa I go there in the spring and autumn–both seasons are really good,” she says and the autumn transitions to intensely colored foliage The mountain is an important place for religious pilgrims a calligraphy-embellished stamp with the date and the name of the temple The mountain is also a spiritual home to the mythical tengu supernatural creatures that can take the form of long-nosed tricksters and imposing human-bird hybrids; statues and images of tengu proliferate the area Come winter, northern Japan is buried deep in snow and ice, and residents have found plenty of ways to stay busy. Rie Miyoshi Grant, multimedia producer at Outdoor Japan magazine, recommends Kita Akita in Akita Prefecture. “This snowy region in Tohoku has a great ski resort called Ani you can ride powder snow and see the juhyou (snow monsters created by ice formed on trees),” says Miyoshi Grant hike among fiery fall foliage and warm up with a kiritanpo nabe a hot pot dish with toasted rice cakes and vegetables.” This area is famous for Akita-inu massive Japanese dogs with adorable faces and big personalities She recommends visiting the Akita-inu Museum and checking out the Ani Ski Resort where the resident Akita-inu named Hokuto greets visitors (Related: Everything you should know before visiting Japan.) and the communal baths are managed by the villagers.” you can walk between baths around the village—each sheltered by a bathhouse and with an honor box to deposit a few coins at the door “Traditional hot spring culture is alive and well here,” says Nishimura The village is near the famous ‘snow monkey park,’ Jigokudani a natural hot spring where local Japanese macaques drop in to warm up during the frigid For a unique food experience, Yukari Sakamoto, author of Food Sake Tokyo, recommends a visit to the quiet temple of Sankōin “The cuisine is traditional shōjin ryōri,” says Sakamoto vegetarian cuisine eaten by Buddhist monks in training “Head chef Kōshun Nishii has many fans who come to be nourished with dishes such as sesame tōfu Lunch is served in a spacious room behind the temple.” Diners look out into the garden providing bursts of color throughout the year (Related: Top 10 things to do in Japan.) and you can easily arrange a day trip without having to hustle to find accommodations There are shops for renting motorbikes or bicycles The bright blue ocean is home to gently undulating coral reefs and migrating humpback whales are frequently seen here Head up to the Unajinosachi Observatory for spectacular sunset views and fishing for rainbow trout and char on the Satsunai River creating a wonderful balance between human life and nature,” he explains The town’s Hakone Open Air Museum has over 1,000 works of art including over 100 sculptures spread across 17 acres of mountainous greenery where sulfurous hot springs bubble to the surface popular snack here is eggs hard-boiled directly in the springs (Related: Need a spiritual lift? Try this thousand-year-old island hike in Japan.) Motorcycle enthusiast Miwa Kokubun insists that Fukushima is the best the country has to offer. “In Fukushima Kokubun gets around on her emerald green Kawasaki In autumn, “the buckwheat fields on the Sarugaku Plateau or the Takatsue Plateau are so beautiful,” while in spring, “from Mt. Bandai Ranch I can see Lake Inawashiro with rows of cherry trees blossoming.” The fresh air will whet your appetite so take an excursion to Kitakata to try the popular Kitakata ramen—thick noodles Beppu’s many geothermal hot spots are sometimes called the “seven hells.” Located in Oita Prefecture, Kyushu has the most springs in the country, with nearly 5000 registered. Travel writer Mayu Higa also enjoys onsens and says, “I’ve visited many hot springs in Japan, and I love Beppu the best You can do the jigoku meguri–‘hell tour’–and see an active geyser, try the foot baths, or cook a meal using geothermal steam. A popular treatment in Beppu is the hot sand bath (don a yukata) where you are buried in thermally heated sand to sweat it out while gazing out at the ocean a plunging gorge in Iwate Prefecture lined with hiking trails and accented with waterfalls “It has spectacular scenery in each season and it’s hidden in a deep local area in Tohoku,” she says Miyoshi Grant adds, “Personally, I enjoy Iriomote Island, which is mostly jungle and boasts jaw-dropping waterfall hikes and kayaking excursions. It's also home to the endangered Iriomote wildcat, although I've yet to come across one!” Six people have been killed and more than 200 injured since April with warnings of more to come during winter The number of people injured or killed in bear attacks in Japan this year exceeded 200 for the first time, as experts warned of more encounters during the winter, when the animals are supposed to hibernate. The environment ministry said 212 people were attacked in the eight months from April, including 30 in November alone, according to the public broadcaster NHK. Six people died, including an angler in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido whose partial remains were found close to a 1.5-metre tall bear. The bear was shot dead and DNA testing later confirmed the remains belonged to the missing man. Read moreThe overall injury tally since March is well above the previous record of 158 reported in the 12 months from April 2020 As Japanese authorities struggle to address the rising number of encounters between humans and bears that have left their natural habitat in search of food experts urged people to remain vigilant even during the coldest months While bears generally hibernate from late November until the spring the scarcity of food this year means that some hungry animals will continue to forage amid media reports of sightings in late November – once a rarity Although some bears were expected to hibernate earlier than usual to conserve energy others that have not eaten enough “could keep wandering around instead of hibernating” Bears that have developed a fondness for meat including the infamous OSO18 – the codename given to a brown bear that attacked more than 60 cows in October over a four-year period from 2019 – are particularly menacing a bear expert at Tohoku University of Art and Design “They are hungry and agitated in the winter due to the lack of prey animals,” he told the Mainichi newspaper where around a third of the encounters nationwide have occurred children continue to walk to school carrying bells designed to spook the animals while shops say they are selling out of bear repellant The area was the scene of two high-profile incidents this year: one in which a man lost part of an ear after finding a bear in his garage in the centre of Kita-Akita town and another nearby in which several people were mauled at a bus stop bear encounters often involved people foraging in the mountains But poor crops of beech nuts and other foods have forced the animals to venture out of their forest habitats inevitably bringing them into more frequent contact with people in built-up areas “The borders between humans and bears have blurred as forested areas expand and arable land is abandoned as a result of depopulation and other developments,” Kazuhiko Hoshizaki a professor at Akita Prefectural University The environment ministry described the rise in attacks as “extraordinary” and urged people to properly dispose of household food waste, which could attract the animals, and make sure they keep doors closed. NHK recently offered viewers advice on what to do if they spot a bear with one recent estimate putting the number of black bears at 44,000 – compared with 15,000 estimated in 2012 thought to be home to about 12,000 Ussuri brown bears whose population has more than doubled since 1990 Almost three-quarters of this year’s attacks occurred in north-east Japan prompting the environment ministry to send experts to help local authorities capture and study the bears Conservationists have called for more to be done to improve bears’ natural habitat while reports of bear shootings have attracted criticism from the public Public Relations Office, Government of Japan Home > Highlighting JAPAN > Highlighting Japan May 2019 > Regional Revitalization which has been drawing attention worldwide in recent years is making the most of its canine charms to revitalize the community No article or any part there of may be reproduced without the express permission of the Cabinet Office. Copyright inquiries should be made through this form National Report Japanese authorities have warned residents Saturday to be aware of wild bears in the country's northeast Tohoku region after several people were attacked Two police officers were attacked Saturday in the city of Kazuno in Akita while recovering the body of a missing man The man had gone hunting for bamboo shoots in the mountains a few days earlier where he was found dead in the area with gash wounds It remains unclear if he died due to a bear attack some wooded areas have been closed off in Kazuno "for an indefinite time,” officials said in a statement News footage showed police officers putting up signs warning people to stay out of mountainous areas where the bears were sighted patrol cars were dispatched together with a helicopter search to locate the bears Akita Prefectural Police have urged people to keep bells and other noise-producing devices on hand to scare the bears away in case of an encounter Thousands of Asiatic black bears live in the wild throughout Japan Attacks have risen as the borders blur between the bears’ habitats and people’s dwellings is also blamed for the surge in bear encounters Bear mauls 4 in Akita residential area; additional attacks reported VOX POPULI: More sightings of bears expected amid poor acorn crops this fall Ministry to send experts to deal with bear attack crisis in Japan AKITA — The last Saturday of September was a perfect autumn day for an outing and there were various tourist events across Akita Prefecture eating local specialties and taking part in other activities Railway company Akita Nairiku Jukan Tetsudo and the Akita branch of All Nippon Airways Co jointly operated a special “Jomon Sweets Train” on Sept Flight attendants acted as guides on the train in a collaborative project to support Odate-Noshiro Airport in Akita Prefecture which aims to offer three flights to and from Haneda Airport a day Nine people — both from within and outside the prefecture — participated They first visited the Isedotai ruins in Kita-Akita and boarded the train at Jomon-Ogata Station A flight attendant who usually works on flights to Hawaii New York and other cities and another who works on flights to cities in Europe and Asia were on the train They made announcements in both Japanese and English hoping the passengers would enjoy their trips on the special shared “flight.” They introduced to passengers the history of the Akita Nairiku Line as well as the scenery and customs of areas along the line Tiramisu puddings and cookies with a Jomon-period (ca 10,000 B.C.-300 B.C.) theme were offered to the passengers “I am satisfied as I met real flight attendants on the Nairiku Line and had Jomon sweets which I had been curious about,” a 40-year-old woman from Yokote “There were many passengers who took the Nairiku Line for the first time I look forward to seeing them on air trips next time,” one of the flight attendants said A two-day event featuring udon noodle dishes from Hokkaido to Kyushu was held on Sept 1 at a parking lot of the Yuzawa municipal government’s Inakawa office in Yuzawa 13 udon shops gathered together from across the country and the venue was crowded with people enjoying the regional varieties This year’s national udon expo marked the 11th year of the event There were various kinds of unique udon dishes such as Kesennuma Fukahire (shark fin) Udon from Miyagi Prefecture Gamagori Udon using asari clams from Aichi Prefecture and Osaka Kasu (deep-fried internal organs) Udon There were long lines in front of popular shops Some people gathered several kinds of udon dishes on their table and enjoyed them at the same time to choose their favorite one A 16-year-old high school student who shared udon noodles with four family members and had tried dishes from all of the shops at the event said “Various kinds of udon dishes are gathered together here from across the country Bears attacked multiple people in and near Akita Prefecture on Oct including at a central city bus stop and the entrance to a hospital in heavily populated areas were injured in bear attacks throughout the day when four women were savaged one after another over a 40-minute period leading to multiple hospitalizations for head and face injuries had to be flown by helicopter to a university hospital in Akita city due to blood loss and severe wounds including broken bones in her chest and hip the bear appeared at a bus stop and bit a first-year senior high school girl on her arm Three of the attacks occurred in a business district near the JR Takanosu Station where retail outlets a 14-year-old junior high school girl was attacked by a bear as she was going home from school Police believe that the five victims in the morning were attacked by the same animal Just over the prefectural border in Hachimantai a man and woman were attacked by a bear while picking mushrooms in a mountainous area and her body was found in a police search of the area suffered injuries to his head but managed to escape to safety and call the police He said the bear had mauled his female companion Yet another bear was spotted in a residential area in Yurihonjo A police officer eventually found the animal in the windbreak room of a nearby hospital The area was sealed off and local government officials captured the animal 51 people have been attacked by bears in Akita Prefecture this year This is more than double the previous record of 20 victims in 2017 Hiroaki Abe and Hideki Muroya contributed to this article.) Akita Prefecture--Akita Nairiku Jukan Tetsudo Railway Co has introduced a new sightseeing train with an interior themed on an old-fashioned house of a “matagi” hunter Matagi are traditional hunters mainly in the northeastern Tohoku region who track bears The railway operator hopes to attract sightseers from in and outside the prefecture with the rustic Akita Matagi train “It is indeed a traditional house that travels,” a company representative said “The train looks perfect as it runs through cedar forests on the mountain.” diesel-powered train was remodeled from the Ozashiki Train Matagi which was an orange sightseeing train operated on the Akita Nairiku Line along with the Akita Jomon and Emi services The exterior of the new train sports red and black colors depicting a matagi hunter holding a rifle retaining the motif of a matagi and a bear from the previous model that was designed by a local junior high school student “noren” curtains featuring a matagi logo and a dining table to make the interior look like a traditional house The passenger compartment originally had a tatami mat floor but it is now equipped with box seats that have backrests to make it more comfortable for passengers on long rides and elderly people It cost 50 million yen ($382,000) to remodel the train Half of the project cost was covered by subsidies from the Japan Tourism Agency while the other half was shouldered by the prefectural government as well as the city governments of Senboku and Kita-Akita The Matagi train is operated as the Moriyoshi express service between Aniai and Takanosu stations on Saturdays except on the third Saturday of each month Full steam ahead this year for steam locomotive in Niigata Fujisan Express tourist train to run for first time in two years Steam train to start runs in Yamaguchi on March 19 venison on menu of sightseeing train in Fukuoka JR West to resume steam sightseeing train from Yamaguchi friendly look the boast of new Kamome Shinkansen Shimane Prefecture--Shiba Inu dogs greeted passengers arriving from Haneda Airport as they walked through the arrival gate of Hagi-Iwami Airport here in the morning of Sept The canines were accompanied by their owners the passengers stopped and petted the dogs saying how cute they were and posed for pictures with them but it was comforting and my fatigue went away,” a passenger said The hope is to attract more passengers to the airport and raise the profile of the city home of the ancestor to all living Shiba Inu A Masuda-based civic group set up to foster Shiba Inu takes care of the dogs The group comprises about 30 Shiba Inu owners living in the city and its neighboring municipalities The dogs remained docile as they greeted the passengers a dog believed to be the ancestor of the breed an indigenous breed from western Shimane Prefecture was born in 1930 in the village of Futakawa (present-day Masuda’s Mitocho district) in the Chugoku Mountain Range about 20 kilometers east of the airport A Tokyo dentist originally from present-day Hamada in the prefecture adopted Ishi It is said that all Shiba Inu around the world can trace their bloodlines back to Ishi a stone statue of Ishi was erected beside the house where he was born with a small memorial hall introducing the dog's history head of the business planning division at Iwami Airport Terminal Building Inc. head of the Masuda-based Shiba Inu fostering group--who also served as chief of the Shimane branch of the Japan Dog Preservation Society a Tokyo-based public interest organization at that time--to organize the greeting event The welcoming event is held in the morning of the first and third Saturdays of each month when an incoming flight from Haneda Airport arrives bringing together 10 to 15 Shiba Inu each time The event has also become popular among Shiba Inu enthusiasts I hope their charms become widely known,” Yanao said The airport only handles two daily round-trip flights linking with Haneda Airport The operator has been trying various ways to attract more passengers including hosting a marathon on the runway keeping bees on the airport premises to produce honey and welcoming arriving passengers with a presentation of the traditional performing art of Iwami “kagura” (sacred Shinto music and dancing) “Shiba Inu are also popular outside Japan,” Nishimatsu said “We hope people actually visit (the city) not only to enjoy sightseeing but also to turn their attention to Masuda as a ‘holy site’ for Shiba Inu and make a pilgrimage.” Akita Inu dogs greet arriving passengers at Odate-Noshiro Airport in Kita-Akita on dates ending with the number eight (“hachi”) every month in tribute to Hachiko an Akita Inu dog known for its loyalty to its master a train with one or two cars makes its way across bridges that span deep valleys and through tunnels that burrow into the heart of the mountains of the region Looking on the scene from a distance, you could imagine that you were glimpsing something from a generation gone by. But if you were to get on board the Akita Nairiku Line and gaze out the window as the snowdrifts gather on the fields and valleys of central Akita you might feel as if you had stepped into a sumi-e An Akita Nairiku train passing through Kita-Akita The Akita Nairiku Line runs between Takanosu in Kita-akita City and Kakunodate in Senboku City and dates back to the 1930s when it was used to transport workers and supplies to the Ani Mines The initial lines have been extended over the decades sinuously winding its way through a course that includes 20 tunnels Japan’s Shinkansen network makes for speedy travel but it is often hard to truly enjoy the scenery outside your window when you are moving at hundreds of kilometers an hour The leisurely pace of the Akita Nairiku Line allows you to catch your breath or have it taken away by an everchanging landscape that harkens back to a Japan of traditional stories and colorful mythologies While stunning views can be seen throughout the four seasons a winter journey through the snow country can be an unforgettable experience a train trip is incomplete without a bento What many foreign travelers may not know is that the best bento are made with a special ingredient: mother’s love To offer a unique travel and culinary experience this winter the Akita Nairiku Line will be providing a limited service called the Gottsuo Treasure Box Train The distinctive Akita pronunciation of the word gochiso gottsuo means “a feast or a fancy meal.” In this case At every stop between Kakunodate and Aniai Stations the train will come to a stop and the mothers will board the train each one serving a personal specialty easily rivaling anything you could get at a top-level restaurant A combination of a multi-course meal and a passage through a wintry panorama like this could only be available for limited periods The Gottsuo Treasure Box Train runs on three Saturdays: January 25 The eastern part of Akita Prefecture is a true land of winter where snow falls for as many as 100 days each year It is also the home of the Kamihinokinai Paper Balloon Festival a festival that is said to bring good fortune for the year to come In a tradition that has run for at least 100 years and seven other districts around the Nishiki area in Senboku City send their wishes to the sky in the form of illuminated paper balloons but preparation for these three to eight meter–wide balloons starts in December The participants begin by gluing paper together then decorating them with colorful designs such as beautiful women or samurai and finally placing bamboo rings into the balloons for structure cloth balls soaked in oil are placed at the mouths of the balloons and ignited delicate hot air balloons high into the night sky by the hundreds Participants at the Paper Balloon Festival prepare to release their creations into the night sky Some believe that the people of the region learned how to make these balloons from the Edo-period Renaissance man Gennai Hiraga Hiraga visited the area to improve production at the local copper mines at the time and may have passed on the techniques for creating these globes of light those who create these balloons have used them to pray for many things: a good harvest The festival itself is also a lively affair with hearty food and drink that keeps participants and spectators alike warm and in good spirits Along with the illuminated globes of hundreds of prayers being sent to the heavens the night is punctuated with a fireworks display This bright evening in the dead of winter stands as a reminder in this snowy region that the warmth and the light of spring doesn’t lie too far away A single-car train crossing one of the many bridges on the Akita Nairiku Line which is one of the stations on the Akita Shinkansen It takes approximately 3 hours to reach Kakunodate from Tokyo A one-way ticket from Kakunodate to Takanosu is ¥1620 The Gottsuo Treasure Box Train will run between Kakunodate and Aniai Stations on January 25 Trains will depart Kakunodate Station at 11:00 and arrive in Aniai at 12:23 and tickets are limited to 36 passengers per day contact the Akita Nairiku Line Trip Center at 0186-60-1111 The Paper Balloon Festival is held on February 10 take the Akita Nairiku Line from Kakunodate Station and get off at Kamihinokinai Station (~40 minutes; there will be more trains running to accommodate the festival) It is a seven minutes’ walk from the station to the event site The central government plans to dispatch experts across the country to deal with bear problems as the number of attacks on humans hit a record-high 177 this year agriculture and other ministries held a meeting on Oct 31 to discuss measures to counter an increasing number of bear attacks The Environment Ministry will begin an emergency program in November to dispatch bear experts to prefectures and municipalities around Japan that have requested assistance dealing with bear problems The government will cover their expenses as well At least 177 people have been attacked by bears nationwide this year as of Oct the highest number since record-keeping started in 2006 according to figures from prefectural governments compiled by The Asahi Shimbun Humans have been attacked by bears in 18 prefectures this year Akita reported the largest number of victims a professor of animal ecology at the Tokyo University of Agriculture said bears have appeared near human settlements more frequently this year partly because they cannot get enough food in the mountains In a survey conducted by the Tohoku Regional Forest Office said to be correlated with bear appearances in northeastern Japan were determined to be having an “extremely poor harvest” in the prefectures of Aomori Yamazaki said bears could search for food and delay their hibernation if persimmons and other food sources are available in human settlements He said it will be important to manage food of human origin for the next month or so a professor of ecology at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology said a poor harvest of nuts is one of the reasons for the increase in bear attacks but pointed out that an environment has been created that makes it easier for bears to encroach upon human settlements and trees such as persimmon and chestnut have been left unattended due to a decline in the human population “Bears may have learned to eat food in many places without knowing where forests end and human settlements begin,” he said The number of locations nationwide where bear sightings and captures were reported increased 1.38 times in fiscal 2018 from fiscal 2003 according to an Environment Ministry survey of bear habitats Tetsuya Ishikura and Takahiro Takenouchi.) Toyama woman found dead after apparent bear attack Bear attacks on humans in Japan rising at an alarming rate ‘Urban bears’ moving into depopulated municipalities Hunter passes down lessons from horrific bear attack Today's print edition Home Delivery The northern Tohoku region has seen a rise in bear attacks amid a scarcity of food the animals typically eat before they hibernate prompting authorities to urge the public to avoid leaving garbage or food outdoors died after being attacked by a bear while she was picking mushrooms with her 79-year-old husband in a mountainous area of the neighboring city of Kazuno also sustained injuries to his head and his hand and was taken to a hospital in the city of Morioka.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); five people including a 16-year-old girl were attacked by a bear on Thursday morning with an 83-year-old suffering a broken shoulder and arm In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division Shizuoka Prefecture--Citing the weak yen and dwindling sales said it is scaling back its investment in China to focus on domestic production The company had invested heavily in overseas plants on grounds of cost and efficiency it will integrate Yamaha Music Manufacturing Japan Corp. Doing so will allow it to serve as a production base for the world as a whole is aimed at enhancing interactions between product development and frontline production activities They said it will also strengthen its function as the main plant that provides technical guidance to overseas factories “We want to raise the level of our plants to reconstruct techniques and skills,” President Takuya Nakata told reporters “The way forward is to expand domestic investment.” The company had been planning to increase production of key piano components in China to meet demand But that will now be undertaken by its plant in Iwata Yamaha had pursued a strategy of selection and concentration at home and abroad with an eye to bringing domestic production to a halt at some point This latest corporate decision constitutes a major change in policy The company also plans to add another building to the premises of Sakuraba Mokuzai Co. its manufacturing subsidiary in charge of producing lumber and parts for piano manufacturing in Kita-Akita The musical instrument maker has already announced plans to invest 35 billion yen ($232 million) in production equipment for three years through March 2025 the company intends to do the opposite in China Yamaha makes relatively high-end products at its plants in Japan for export it also operates manufacturing plants in Indonesia and elsewhere Piano sales have plunged in China after years of rapid growth due to the country’s economic slowdown and an educational policy aimed at regulating cram schools and other extracurricular activities Yamaha is pinning its hopes on being able to sell musical instruments in a flexible manner tailored to each market by exporting its products made in Japan It will also establish a semiconductor procurement company in Malaysia to combat a semiconductor shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic The new subsidiary will start operations in July “I think we can develop strong bonds by narrowing down our procurement sources and making direct contracts with partners,” Nakata said placing expectations for business expansion will step down as president and be replaced by Atsushi Yamaura will be the first new president in about 11 years Yamaha piano sales in China hit wrong key after policy change 800-billion-yen package eyed to bolster Japan’s chip industry Yamaha adopts wood-based reinforced resin for watercraft Yamaha English School teachers win regular employee status Following an increase in bear attacks this year wildlife experts asked the public to understand the need for bear countermeasures as local governments faced a backlash the Association of Wildlife and Human Society said that “inconsiderate phone calls and persistent complaints (about bears being killed) can demoralize the people involved and hinder our coexistence with bears.” The association requested consideration for those involved in implementing bear killing or capture local government offices handling bear countermeasures have reportedly received numerous complaints and slanderous comments a professor of wildlife management at the University of Hyogo who also heads the association that compiled the statement “We have heard that many staff have been hurt by slanderous remarks and we are deeply concerned “We would like people to understand that staff have made difficult choices to coexist with bears We can protect bears by better protecting people,” she said Bear sightings and attacks have been occurring frequently this autumn in Hokkaido and Japan’s main island Honshu According to the Environment Ministry’s reports in this fiscal year starting in April 2023 180 people were injured in attacks by brown and black bears by the end of October Five of those attacked died and bear attacks are also continuing this month The statement said that a major reason for this fall’s significant increase in bear encounters is “the poor harvest of acorns.” The association said that while it’s common for bear encounters to increase every few years the number of such encounters has been growing The bear population has increased and their habitat range broadened in the past decade which led to more bears living near urban areas They are attracted to neglected persimmons and other fruit in human settlements It also said that bear culling has been limited since 2000 which has greatly contributed to this situation the association said that it is necessary to promote bear culling efforts around urban areas and remove unwanted fruit trees and other food sources that could attract bears Long-term measures to consider include managing the bears’ distribution and population to ensure their survival while reducing their encounters with humans as well as collecting data necessary to manage the bears and forecast potential problems Dog-killing bear ‘RT’ killed after 4 years of terror in Hokkaido town Six years have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake but earthquakes triggered by movements in the Earth’s crust are still occurring in the Tohoku and Kanto areas Most earthquakes are caused by normal faults which occur when the rock on one side of the fault is pulled down relative to the other Experts believe that this makes future major earthquakes highly probable and that Japan should be prepared for the next one Earthquakes that occur in eastern Japan are usually caused by reverse faults where bedrocks are compressed and broken This happens because the Pacific Plate (rock board) that submerges under Japan Trench pushes the Okhotsk Plate the major 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake caused the Okhotsk Plate to shift 65 meters to the west generating a countervailing force being applied opposite the pulling force from the east the numbers of normal fault earthquakes increased greatly Out of 10 M7 earthquakes induced by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake These include an earthquake that occurred last November off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture which caused tsunamis of up to 1.4 m in height as well as an earthquake which occurred last month in the northern part of Ibaragi Prefecture measuring 6 or lower on the Japanese Shindo scale A magnitude 7.0 earthquake that killed four people occurred in eastern Fukushima Prefecture one month after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Researchers were especially surprised by this incident because it was the largest inland earthquake caused by normal faults and occurred in a region where earthquakes do not usually occur Two active faults that were thought to have been largely dormant moved creating a fault protruding above ground by as much as the height of an average adult Faults that rarely move are often hidden underground This earthquake was initially believed to have occurred when the fault being held down in the east was pulled up suddenly in the west head of the Earthquake Tectonics Research Group at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) the force suppressing the faults would have to have been very small Imanishi analyzed the mechanisms of small earthquakes which occurred in the past and discovered that normal fault earthquakes have been occurring frequently in this area and that they are even more likely to occur since the 2011 earthquake This suggests that fault subduction occurred even before the 2011 disaster which is explained by the fact that the ground under the Tohoku region is even more fractious and broken-apart than realized It was not only normal fault earthquakes that increased Professor Shinji Toda of Tohoku University found that earthquakes with a magnitude of 2 or higher occurred more than ten times more frequently after the disaster Toda also discovered that each earthquake had its own characteristics depending on where it occurred On the border between Fukushima and Ibaragi prefectures where the earthquake in the eastern part of Fukushima Prefecture occurred as well as in the areas around Choshi city in Chiba Prefecture the number of normal fault earthquakes increased the number of strike-slip fault earthquakes increased in the areas around Akita City and Kita-Akita City while the number of reverse fault earthquakes increased in areas around Kita City This suggested that certain types of earthquakes were more likely to occur in certain areas Japanese archipelago was once at the eastern end of the Eurasian continent but moved to where it is today due to expansion of the Sea of Japan Many faults were carved out as grooves and striations during this period He says that the movement of a very large seismic area was one cause of the 2011 Earthquake which in turn changed the force applied to East Japan over a wide area “This allowed various types of faults to come to light,” he says Such research also helps advance seismology A series of M7 class earthquakes occurred in the coastal areas of Fukushima Prefecture in 1938 It was long thought that these were reverse fault earthquakes but it is now believed that they were normal fault earthquakes in the landside plate it may lead to a review of the long-term earthquake forecasts announced by the government The increased probability of induced earthquakes can be suppressed relatively quickly in fault areas where stress is applied on a regular basis the probability will continue to increase in areas where stress is not consistently applied such as in the case of the Nobi earthquake (M 8.0)—one of the nation's largest active fault earthquakes—which struck Gifu prefecture in 1891 Small induced earthquakes still continue to occur in the surrounding areas even more than a century after the Nobi temblor Toda warns that "it will take more than 20 to 30 years even more than 100 years depending on the location before the regions where the earthquake probabilities have risen after the disaster go back to their normal state Shigeki Harada is a senior staff writer for Sankei Shimbun Photo is provided by Professor Shinji Toda You must be logged in to post a comment ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " A new study has found that when black bears attack humans the animals usually target their victim’s faces which can leave survivors with extensive injuries and disfigurement requiring reconstructive surgeries or even surgical eye removal The Asahi Shimbun study showed that 90 percent of bear attack victims who were taken to critical care centers in Japan suffered facial injuries According to preliminary figures from the Environment Ministry there were 217 bear attacks on humans between April and December in 2023 surpassing 200 for the first time since the ministry began compiling annual statistics in fiscal 2006 typically reports two to four bear attack victims a year head of the advanced emergency medical service center of the Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital in Yamanashi Prefecture “Victims often sustain wounds to their arms and hands as they desperately attempt to protect their faces Iwase described the injuries of the people rushed to his facility as so severe that there were limits to what the doctors could repair “Some patients’ faces were so damaged that it seemed impossible to restore them like they were before even after stitching their wounds,” he said Facial wounds often require long-term treatment since the face contains so many vital organs and tissues a plastic surgeon at Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital the flesh is torn off as if by a blunt object very different from cuts caused by a sharp object.” two of the nine patients treated at the facility after bear attacks were forced to have their eyes removed The Asahi’s findings were based on two research papers by Iwate Medical University in Iwate Prefecture and the Japanese Red Cross Takayama Hospital in Gifu Prefecture These are among the documents that have been publicly available since 2011 that discuss where victims suffered injuries when mauled by the Asiatic black bear The papers found that black bears tend to maul a human’s head and upper body Of the 54 cases documented in the two papers 22 had injuries on the upper half of their bodies while only seven people sustained injuries to their lower limbs Wild bear mauls female camper and gorges on her instant curry Karuizawa enlists them to scare bears away By Yohei Fujita and Toshiya Minami / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers At least 158 injuries and deaths have been caused by bears in Japan this fiscal year tying the all-time high seen in fiscal 2020 Experts attribute the situation to a bad crop of the nuts that bears feed on as well as the animals’ expanding habitats and growing population as bears become active at this time of year before they hibernate Residents heard women screaming in the center of Kita-Akita city including a junior high school girl who was waiting at a bus stop I could encounter a bear at anytime,” said the 66-year-old owner of a Japanese confectionary shop nearby said he was struck by a bear that emerged from a bamboo thicket while he was working in a field near his house in mid-September and he sustained injuries on his head and face “It happened in an instant,” the man said in a wavering voice while rubbing a deep scar on his face a total of 109 cases of bear-inflicted injury or death had been reported nationwide as of the end of September according to preliminary figures from the Environment Ministry there were at least 49 bear attacks through Friday according to a survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun 52 bear attacks have been reported so far this fiscal year more than eight times the figure in fiscal 2022 An increasing number of bears have been spotted around the country There were 14,943 sightings across Japan through the end of September an increase of 4,210 from the same period last year There have also been reports of sightings this year on the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture where a wild bear was spotted in 2021 for the first time in 100 years One reason why is to believed to be the increasing area of deserted arable land and thickets where bears can hide themselves a result of the declining human population the Environment Ministry’s Biodiversity Center of Japan announced that wild bears’ habitats had increased 40% from fiscal 2003 The number of wild bears is also believed to be rising The Yomiuri Shimbun compiled figures based on data from 27 prefectures regarding the number of black bears since fiscal 2017 The Yomiuri estimated the existence of about 44,000 black bears or three times the about 15,000 that the biodiversity center estimated in fiscal 2012 also rose from an estimated 5,200 in fiscal 1990 to an estimated 11,700 in fiscal 2020 Yoshikazu Sato of Rakuno Gakuen University said the increasing number of bears can be attributed to rising public awareness of natural conservation since the 1990s the prevailing attitude changed from excessive extermination of bears to a more restrained approach of co-existing with bears Nine-year-old Tama is gentle-natured and good at tracking bears can immediately detect bears in the vicinity a breed that helps keep bears away from humans They are working in the Nagano Prefecture town of Karuizawa where not one bear has harmed a person in the community there in the last 13 years Lela and two other dogs are kept and trained by an NPO called Picchio Bear cubs leave their mothers in the summer when food supplies happen to be short Newly independent young bears avoid encountering their older and stronger counterparts in the woods and thus often wander into human settlements while foraging for food Picchio’s staffers patrol the neighborhoods with the bear dogs from late at night until the early morning causing the bear to scuttle back into the woods “And to make the bear understand that humans are also to be feared I join the dogs and shout at the top of my lungs,” Tanaka said Bear attacks are occurring more frequently around the nation the latest Environment Ministry update shows 180 victims as of the end of last month rewriting the worst record set in fiscal 2020 Could bear dogs solve the problem by stopping bears from showing up in residential areas Picchio has been in operation for 20 years but the early years were marked by constant trial and error Not only did keeping and training the canines call for great patience and commitment but there were also budgetary and staffing issues to contend with Picchio is currently run by six people and half the budget is covered by an agency fee paid by the town requiring two of the staffers to work elsewhere during winter while the bears are in hibernation The methods of keeping bears away from human communities also vary by region And it is up to the people and organizations with a thorough understanding of the situation to determine which method would work best in each area “Just getting rid of them won’t solve anything,” Tanaka said Man found dead near bear caught in boar trap he set in Nagano Japan’s re-defined intervention trigger may slow Urban areas no longer off-limits to bolder brown bears in Sapporo Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version By Masafumi Taga / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer The Jomon Prehistoric Sites located in northern Japan which are expected to be collectively registered as a World Heritage Site have been highly acclaimed by a UNESCO advisory body for the “pre-agricultural ways of living and complex spiritual cultures” they illustrate The sites’ addition to the globally renowned list is expected to take place at a UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled for this month Their inclusion will be deliberated at the meeting based on the evaluation of documents provided by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Various remains and artifacts tell of the rich spirituality achieved by people who lived a sedentary lifestyle about 2,300 to 15,000 years ago during the Jomon period They also give the group of sites rare archaeological value The Jomon Prehistoric Sites consist of 17 sites in four prefectures — Hokkaido Akita and Iwate in the northern Tohoku region were abundant in the area and the people were hunter-gatherers who lived in settlements The government’s application for UNESCO recognition emphasized the difference between the Japan sites and those seen in Europe and western Asia in which human sedentism is believed to have begun with the advent of agriculture and cattle breeding The document also divides the Jomon period which spans more than 10,000 years across that area The evolution process between the three stages is made clear through the classification of the sites by the types of relics excavated there including some of the world’s oldest ceramic fragments at the Odai Yamamoto Site in Sotogahama and the large-scale settlement discovered at the Sannai Maruyama Site in the same prefecture these sites vastly differ from each other in regard to their characteristics and evolutionary stages classified as being within the emergence stage of sedentism the residential and cemetery areas were found to have been separated indicating the rise of a distinction between ordinary everyday life and the extraordinary state of life after death human and animal bones were excavated from shell disposal heaps This points to the possibility of a ritual site that was a combination of a shell refuse heap and a cemetery More than 2,000 clay figurines and other artifacts were discovered at the Sannai Maruyama Site among archaeological dumping sites which suggests the continuation of one or more rituals over a long period of time The presence of stone circles is a characteristic feature of civilizations across the development and maturity stages stone circles were built in the center of the settlement stone circles were built around communal ritual sites for multiple settlements in the maturity stage such as Akita Prefecture’s Oyu Stone Circles in Kazuno and the Isedotai Stone Circles in Kita-Akita causing a drop in sea level and the formation of sand dunes This subsequently led people in the region to broaden their living environment who specializes in prehistoric archaeology at Tohoku University of Art & Design “There were buildings exclusively for rituals that spiritually supported and connected multiple communities,” Aono said In addition to the discovery of burial sites for the deceased objects that appear to depict male and female genitals were also unearthed Aono said rituals focusing on people’s awareness of their own mortality may have been performed at the stone circles in settlements in the maturity stage At Aomori Prefecture’s Kamegaoka Burial Site in Tsugaru and Korekawa Site in Hachinohe both classified within the final phase of the maturity stage large cemeteries and elaborate artifacts have been discovered such as clay figures with goggle-like eyes and lacquered items including baskets the assurance of a stable life is necessary Although the focus of the World Heritage Site designation would be the archaeological remains the rich spirituality that the Jomon people of this region achieved in its maturity stage is clearly evident.” The ICOMOS evaluation also examines subjects to be dealt with in the future such as the removal of “unsuitable” buildings and construction while mitigating their impact Although the evaluation does not mention any individual sites a prefectural highway runs between the Oyu Stone Circles The issue of roads in relation to World Heritage Sites had already been raised As the government’s submission of the Jomon sites for UNESCO recognition includes a plan to someday relocate the highway this matter is expected to have no bearing on the World Heritage Committee’s deliberation The World Heritage Committee is scheduled to meet virtually from July 16 with deliberations on new candidates for registration Japanese version Japanese version Japanese version JAPAN RUINS: The Isedotai ruins in Kita-Akita which convey the lifestyle and spiritual culture of the Jomon period in 10,000 B.C are expected to have their value recognized by the world Iwate and Akita proposed to the Cultural Affairs Agency in 2007 that the ruins located in their areas be registered as a World Heritage cultural site The people involved in the proposal were delighted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites' recommendation that the ruins be listed the registration of [the Jomon sites] as a World Heritage site is getting underway," said Takumi Itchoda representative of a group of local volunteer guides for the Sannai-Maruyama archaeological site in Aomori "I was excited by the excavation's findings which showed the life of the ancient people and their advanced technology including the remains of a huge six-pillar building," said Itchoda He was the principal of an elementary school at the time the ruins were found efforts to register the ruins as a World Heritage site ran into trouble the central government declined to nominate the sites in Hokkaido and the northern Tohoku region for the list of World Heritage sites The government argued that there was insufficient reason to list only the Jomon remains in Hokkaido and Aomori despite the fact that such ruins exist across the nation a specialist in the registration of World Heritage cultural sites for the Aomori prefectural government was among those who rewrote the draft of the recommendation to the central government more than 100 times They sought to have recognized the value of the region where hunting and gathering culture continued for more than 10,000 years chairman of a citizens group aiming to have the Oyu Kanjo Resseki stone circle in Kazuno "It's been 90 years since the discovery of the ruins and now we can finally have the world's eyes on a local treasure." a representative of a citizens group for the promotion of Jomon culture based in Hakodate "I want to convey the charm of the Jomon culture Poll results are published every Monday in The Guam Daily Post University of Guam students and faculty are leveraging international academic conferences to foster economic innovation and workforce development positioning the island as a hub for what School of Business and Public Administration Dean Roseann Jones Saturday’s Mad Collab Block Party in Hagåtña brought together more than 70 local businesses and artists in celebration with hundreds of attendees It was all about the wonders of Artificial Intelligence in the palm of your hand All of the latest features in Samsung's Galaxy AI were showcased at a GTA-sponsored event Thursday Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Japanese version Copyright THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Temperatures are expected to rise across Japan through the weekend, reaching levels normally seen in April and May. Large amounts of snow may melt quickly in some regions, triggering avalanches and landslides. Japan's Meteorological Agency says a cold air mass that had affected the country has moved on and the heavy snowfall period has passed its peak. Many regions on Tuesday experienced temperatures normally seen later in March. The daytime high in central Tokyo was 12.7 degrees. The mercury is expected to further rise through the weekend. Weather officials say Tokyo will see a high of 22 degrees on Sunday, the norm for early May. Meteorological officials are now warning of avalanches and accidents related to melting snow. A video taken in Fukushima Prefecture illustrates the danger. The local tourism and products association says in December one of its officials heard rumbling coming from a building's roof before massive chunks of snow slid down one after another. The official managed to take a video, which now serves as a warning of the dangers posed by accumulated snow. Tuesday also saw reports of buildings damaged by the sheer weight of snow. A vacant house in Niigata Prefecture collapsed after days of heavy snowfall led to nearly four meters of accumulation. Deadly accidents have also occurred. On Tuesday morning, an 80-year-old man in Akita Prefecture's Kita-Akita City was found lying on the ground outside his house. Police say a neighbor had seen him earlier removing snow from his roof. Efforts are underway to prevent such accidents. In Fukushima Prefecture's graying Mishima Town, volunteers are removing snow from elderly people's properties. One elderly man who lives alone said he was grateful for their help and hopes spring will come soon. Officials armed with sticks in Ishikawa Prefecture's Kanazawa City are patrolling slopes near residential areas to see if meltwater is causing the ground to loosen. They're also using drones to check less accessible locations. An official says these inspections enable timely responses to risky situations. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its long-range weather forecast on Tuesday for March through May. It is predicting spring will be warmer than usual in northern Japan due to the likely absence of a cold air mass. Meanwhile, the east will see average to higher temperatures, and normal temperatures are expected in western Japan, Okinawa and Amami. bad lil' diva gon' move my reefer (Yeah yeah)I got stripes out this bitch like a zebra I remember back in the day them niggas was hounds (Was hounds)Now my dogs pull up they know where to be found (They sound)I gotta wear a lifejacket when I wear my jewelry 'cause I might drown (Yeah)Body count I be ballin' out of bounds(Get it started in your town I be ballin' out of bounds)[Chorus: Belly]I won't let 'em breathe (Oh) I got what you need (Ayy)The devil's a lie (Uh) I never believed (No)Two tone sliding down the road like a sheikhTwo tone I'm sliding down the road like a sheikhI won't let 'em breathe (Oh) I got what you need (Ayy)The devil's a lie (Uh) I never believed (No)Two tone I'm sliding down the road like a sheikh (Oh)2EmbedCancelHow to Format Lyrics: To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning That was like a one-take freestyle. And at first it was hard for me to take the song serious. I was like, ‘This is just some cool shit we could just listen to.’ And the homies were like, ‘Bro, you’re bugging. You’ve got to fucking put this on the album. We’ve got to put Uzi on this.’ And then I remember playing it for Abel and Abel was like —via Apple Music +5Have Belly and Lil Uzi Vert collaborated before?Genius Answer1 contributorNo this marks the first collaboration between the two artists.